Wild Rice Mason Jar Salad with Basil Pesto

Make lunch easy with these wild rice Mason jar salads, made with late summer vegetables, wild rice, and basil pesto for a delicious and healthy meal.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see myprivacy policy.This post is sponsored by Lundberg Family Farms. All opinions are 100% mine.

Fall is coming.

I feel it moving in with the crisp morning air, the shorter days, and the longer nights. And while I LOVE fall, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to summer. So I’m going to pause, taking a moment to reflect on the past three months.

My summer started with a broken heart; a pain I don’t remember feeling so strongly before. I busied myself with work to escape but I lacked creativity in the midst of the pain; my work suffered and became laborious. All I could see was darkness in those early days of summer. A darkness that I had to walk through, despite lacking direction or sense of how long it might be. Then June turned into July and a new feeling joined the sadness – hope. I started practicing gratitude daily in a gratitude journal, my creativity starting finding it’s way back to me, and exciting new opportunities were popping up with work – work that I love so much and is rich in meaning.

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Over the course of the month I began to embrace my singleness. Then, as I lived into it, I became grateful for my singleness. And as the month progressed, hope eclipsed the sadnesses. Summer was filled with many trips: camping, nights away on the coast, a trip to Chicago, another to Michigan, and a family vacation in the Puget Sound.

As summer wraps up I feel full. Full of life, gratitude, love, hope, excitement, and energy.

I am utterly amazed at the change one season can bring.

With fullness of spirit, I plan to celebrate these last couple weeks of summer as best I can.

That means lots of music and movies in the park, nighttime rendezvous, river fun, and picnics. I want to do it all! And because of the many activities I hope to fit in by the end of summer, I’m going to need a lot of convenient grab-n-go meals to join me on my adventures. So today I’m sharing a recipe for a Wild Rice Mason Jar Salad; the perfect prepare-ahead-salad for all of your late summer activities.

I chose this WildBlend Rice because Lundberg is a company I stand behind. Committed to sustainability and quality, they believe it is our responsibility to leave the earth better than how we found it. For that reason most their products are organic, non-GMO, and eco-farmed. Their sustainability practices include renewable energy, energy conservation, and waste reduction. I believe strongly in everything they stand for, which is why I support Lundberg Family Farms whenever I can.

I combined this Wild Blend Rice with all the late summer vegetables – grilled zucchini and corn, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil. Turns out, these late summer vegetables know how to make a salad!

Wanna see the recipe in action?

There are only a couple short weeks of Summer left; join me in making them beautiful. Full of sunshine, friends, laughter, love, creativity, and passion as we savor the moment to moment and nourish ourselves with the best this season has to offer.

In a 4 quart pot combine 1 3/4 cup water with 1 cup wild rice. Cover and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 45 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and let cool.

While rice is cooking, preheat oven to broil and move your baking rack to the top. Brush corn cobs and zucchini slices with olive oil.

Broil corn for about 15 minutes, rotating often. Once cooked, remove from oven and let cool.

Heat a griddle over medium-high heat and pan-fried zucchini until it has dark grill marks and is cooked all the way through.*

When cool enough to handle, chop zucchini in 1/4" cubes and and cut corn off husks.

While corn and zucchini cook, combine the ingredients for the basil pesto in a blender and set aside.

To assemble the mason jar salads, place a layer of pistachios at the bottom of (2) one quart mason jars or (4) 1/2 quart jars. Top with tomatoes, corn, zucchini, wild rice, and watercress, in that order.

Refrigerate until ready to go.

Serve with basil pesto.

Recipe Notes

The corn and zucchini could also be grilled outdoors.

Nutrition Facts

Wild Rice Mason Jar Salad with Basil Pesto

Amount Per Serving

Calories 439Calories from Fat 369

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 41g63%

Saturated Fat 5g25%

Sodium 172mg7%

Potassium 635mg18%

Total Carbohydrates 16g5%

Dietary Fiber 3g12%

Sugars 6g

Protein 5g10%

Vitamin A23.9%

Vitamin C46.2%

Calcium5.8%

Iron9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

If you give this recipe a try, let us know what you think in the comments below. Or snap a photo and share it on Instagram. Make sure to tag@mydarlingveganso I can see your creations!

Comments

Sarah, I am a new vegan and just found your blog. I am bookmarking like crazy…everything looks so good…can’t wait to start trying your recipes. Are there any other vegan bloggers that you recommend? Thank you!

I’m so sorry that you had to experience sadness for the first half of the summer. Breakups, even when your the one to fall out of love, are always difficult. Good for you for picking up the pieces and focusing on the good things in life.

I started this year with a broken heart too so am right there with you as far as feeling all those emotions and how everything has its season, eventually getting brighter again… glad you are feeling your creativity and inspiration coming back! You totally got this.

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